It is normal for a patient to experience a number of emotions when faced with the possibility of an eye disease. The thought of blindness brings despair and depression. The enemy behind most of these negative emotions, however, is fear! To survive any age-related condition, we must become warriors! That’s right, warriors!

The struggle to deal with challenges offers us the opportunity to learn patience! Think about frustration and how it causes every situation to become impossible. When we give in to FEAR and let it take over our life we are virtually powerless. The future looks black and hopeless.

So to be empowered, we have to identify the enemy and take away the power of the unknown by replacing it with knowledge. Education about Macular Degeneration and how to live with challenges is exactly what our organization is about. So if you are reading this, you are already engaged in a transition to low vision that will allow you to experience the joy of today.

Knowledge, by the way, is your armor! The more you are able to limit your risk factors; learn about treatments; and find products to help you navigate your independent living the less you will feel like a victim.

By the way, total blindness and also the extent of vision loss is different for each patient. Extreme vision loss is possible but it is not the case for most people.

Dr. Ari Weitzner reported from the World Ophthalmology Congress that a small study indicated that early intervention using low-vision aids can greatly reduce the severity of depression related to vision loss in patients with AMD.